Senator Antonio Trillanes IV slammed his colleague Senator Richard Gordon for holding a “one-man show” and monopolizing hearings.
Gordon, in turn, chided Trillanes for launching failed coup attempts.
The heated exchange between the two senators on Thursday marred the blue ribbon committee hearing on the P6.4 billion “shabu” shipment from China into the country.
READ: Gordon, Trillanes clash over invite to Paolo Duterte, Mans Carpio
Names of presidential son and Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and his brother-in-law Manases Carpio cropped up in the hearing after broker Mark Taguba II alleged that the middlemen from the “Davao Group” within the Bureau of Customs (BOC) he dealt with were negotiating for Duterte and Carpio.
The debate started when Trillanes moved to summon Duterte and Carpio in the next hearings. Gordon and Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III objected, saying their involvement should be established first before the committee invites them.
“You’re so fond of naming names and making general statements. If you want to make general statements, better prove it. This is the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines. This is not a ‘cockpit of chismis.’ We’re here to investigate real things,” Gordon said.
This irked Trillanes, tagging Gordon’s committee as a “committee de abswelto” for favoring influential personalities.
Gordon responded to him and turned to Sotto: “Majority leader, the gentleman from whatever he comes from (Trillanes), says this is a ‘committee de abswelto.’ The gentleman has been accusing everybody in the Senate of everything… In the past you got away, Senator Zubiri and you almost got into a slug fest.”
Gordon asked Sotto “to convoke the ethics committee and I will file personally ethics committee case against this gentleman from Bicol.”
Trillanes butted in, “Please do so. I welcome that.”
Gordon then told Trillanes to behave, or else he will call the Senate sergeant-at-arms to deal with him.
Trillanes did not relent. “Regarding your irrational ruling and behavior as chairman of this Blue Ribbon committee. You’ve been doing a one-man show, a monologue for several hours and you think that’s normal?”
This prompted the committee chairman to declare Trillanes out of order. “You’re out of order. I will not dignify all your one-man statements, all your observations.”
Gordon then mocked Trillanes for staging failed coup attempts.
“The trouble with this gentleman is every time he doesn’t like it, he will conduct a coup and then he will be forgiven and he will conduct another coup and then he’s forgiven again,” Gordon said, to which Trillanes replied, calling Gordon “pathetic.”
“And ikaw nag-barricade sa (And you barricaded) Subic just to hold on to your position. That’s more pathetic,” Trillanes said.
Sotto then intervened. He was heard telling Trillanes, “napaka-unparliamentary ng nangyayari dito. Committee niya (Gordon) ‘to, hayaan mo na siya.”
(What’s happening is very unparliamentary. This is Gordon’s committee, just let him be.)
The hearing resumed after a few minutes of suspension. JE